Who better than Mary Matalin and James Carville to grace the October/November cover of this magazine? The political power couple—and longtime business jet fans—are the perfect duo to comment on the unprecedented craziness surrounding this year’s U.S. presidential election (see interviews).

Tony Robbins first appeared on our radar screen several years ago, when we heard about his extensive use of charter and love of private flight. Recently, we learned that he had made the leap to full ownership by purchasing a preowned ultra-long-range, large-cabin Bombardier Global Express XRS through The Jet Business in London.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a company that appreciates the value of private lift more than Taylor Guitars.
Kurt Listug and Bob Taylor started the business in 1974 by making and selling one instrument at a time while living on tight budgets, but as sales took off, so did they: they began to use charter flights to visit customers and suppliers and later purchased a Hawker 850XP. Last year—with their annual revenues exceeding $100 million—they moved up to a Gulfstream G450, which they now fly more than 400 hours annually.

John Paul DeJoria is as well known for his philanthropy as he is for selling shampoo. In his BJT interview with Cynthia Bowman (see page 14), the cofounder of the Paul Mitchell hair-care-products line tells a moving story about his mother teaching him and his brother early on that “success unshared is failure.” DeJoria learned the lesson well and today works with many charitable organizations, including his own JP’s Peace, Love and Happiness Foundation.

It’s fitting that on June 3, right in the middle of production for our eighth annual BJT Buyers’ Guide, I had the privilege of traveling to Washington, D.C., to watch Gulfstream accept the prestigious Robert J. Collier trophy for its development of the G650 large-cabin, long-range business jet. The U.S. National Aeronautic Association presents the award annually to those who have made “the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles.”

I felt particularly high-spirited during a recent lunch with new friends but didn’t realize why until later: this was the first time in ages that I’d been part of a political discussion that remained respectful and thoughtful even though everyone disagreed on almost every hot-button issue. Nobody got emotional, nobody shouted and nobody got attacked.

After I interviewed Honeywell CEO Dave Cote for this issue’s cover story, he showed me around his Morristown, New Jersey office, which is a large, light-filled space crammed floor to ceiling with mementos of his years of travel across the globe.